Kittu (Sundeep Kishan), a cab driver in a garage owned by Manikyam (Thanikella Bharani) makes some savings of Rs. 6 lakhs with his owner. Nandeeswari (Regina) is the lone daughter of Manikyam who is coerced to marry Aravind Swamy (Satyam Rajesh). Manikyam refuses to return Kittu’s savings and agitated Kittu accidentally kidnaps Nandu on the night of her wedding. Nandu who enjoys freedom for the first time, reluctant to go back suggests Kittu to demand Rs. 15 lakhs from her father. In the due course, escaping from the henchmen of Manikyam, the duo accidentally land up in a remote village of Kerala. Adding to this, Kittu out of frustration damages the worship place of the local village. So, Kittu owes to serve a punishment for this. However, the duo eventually falls in love and by the time they admit their love, she is kidnapped by Babji (Brahmaji), the henchman of Jaggu (Jagapathi Babu). So, what did Kittu do to win Nandu and what is the rivalry between Kittu and Jaggu forms the crux of the story.
Sundeep Kishan: Sundeep was absolutely endearing in the role of cute, righteous and mannered ‘Kittu’. Besides being an able actor, he impresses with his comic timing and dances in the film.
Regina Cassandra: She is the one who is the showstopper. She carries the entire film on her shoulders and entertains you with her all-round performance.
Jagapathi Babu: Wait… if you are still in the Legend hangover then please have some butter milk before you go to the movie. Jagapathi Babu shall be seen as ‘Jaggu’, a good-at-heart kidnapper. Scenes between Jagapathi Babu and Sundeep Kishan are entertaining.
Thanikella Bharani: He is seen as a Tamil business man ‘Manikyam’ and a regular father. He along with Velu (Vasu Inturi) tries hard to create some gags.
Satyam Rajesh & Thagubothu Ramesh: He is as usually seen as a clown bridegroom ‘Aravind Swamy’ but tickles your funny bone along with 'Mandu Babu' Thagubothu Ramesh.
Jabardasth Venu & Ravi: The third entertaining combination in the film is of Venu (as Bihari) & Ravi (as Pothu Raju).
The rest of the cast does a decent job to make it engaging.
Mahesh Babu. P, though a debutante director did appeal like a good chef who knows the secret ingredients of a good Telugu commercial potboiler. The film has a half Tamil+Mallu and half Telugu look! He heavily relies upon comedy to tell his age old story. Hence, he erases a character called ‘antagonist’ (villain) to tone down the film and at the same time not to sound clichéd.
First Half: You’ll go on a tour to the scenic Tamil Nadu and Kerala for no reason and experience the love blooming between the leads. By the time you realize what is going on, you come across three songs and few comedy scenes. Thagubothu Ramesh comedy is the one that tickles you for sure.
Interval Bang: Though the pre-interval episode has nothing to be excited about, the trivial twist before intermission offers you one good reason to sit for the second half too.
Second Half: Here Jaggu bhai, Venu and Ravi Babu take the torch forward and pull this laid back love story. Well, we know all’s well that ends well. But, we have a wedding song and a tragic song as per the protocol to wind up things.
Mahesh Babu has done it well but should have concentrated on working out the emotional conflict between the characters rather than dragging a trivial logic to pull off the wagon for two and half hours.
Merits:
- Lead characters Sundeep, Regina, Jagapathi Babu Performances.
- Hale and healthy comedy tracks of Tahgubothu Ramesh, Venu and Ravi Babu.
- Couple of scenes between Jagapathi Babu and Sundeep Kishan might actually make you laugh.
- Age old story but engaging screenplay.
- Good cinematography.
Demerits:
- Conventional storyline and treatment.
- Flimsy characterization and emotional conflict.
- Punchless dialogues might add to the disadvantage of the film.
- Songs looked absolutely forced and the Tamil tinge in the songs was pretty much evident.
Achu’s music is pretty decent fare but the Tamil tinge is the only concern. However, he passed off the muster with the re-recording. Sound design was taken care of decently. “Itu Ra Ra Krishnayya” song was picturized well too.
Sai Sriram did an impressive job especially with his lighting in some indoor scenes and in the last tragic song.
Ra Ra Krishnayya is a conventional one time watch film. A Rs. 50 first class ticket should be a super cool choice for the film. A beautiful heroine, an ounce of romance, a table spoon of comedy and absolutely nothing to retain or take back - what else is required! You can watch it for Radha if not for Krishnayya!